Grafton National Cemetery
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Grafton National Cemetery
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Grafton National Cemetery
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| Location | Grafton, West Virginia |
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| Coordinates | 39°20′12″N 80°01′48″W / 39.33667°N 80.03000°WCoordinates: 39°20′12″N 80°01′48″W / 39.33667°N 80.03000°W |
| NRHP Reference # | 82004330 |
| Added to NRHP | February 2, 1982 |
Grafton National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in Grafton, Taylor County, West Virginia. It encompasses a total of 3.2 acres (1.3 ha). Along with West Virginia National Cemetery, it is one of two United States Department of Veterans Affairs national cemeteries in West Virginia, both of which are located in Grafton. The first interments took place in 1867 for casualties of the American Civil War in West Virginia.
The Grafton cemetery is closed to most new interments due to inadequate space. Interments are made at nearby West Virginia National Cemetery since it was dedicated in 1987.
In 1867, the United States Department of War directed Major R. C. Bates to find a location to bury remains of Union casualties of the American Civil War throughout West Virginia. West Virginia was a member of the Union, after seceding from the rest of Confederate Virginia and forming a new state in 1863.
Bates found a site adjacent to the town of Grafton's Maple Avenue Cemetery, where many soldiers had already been buried. The terrain was also relatively level, unusual for the mountainous region. The 39th Congress appropriated a 3 acres (1.2 ha) site that same year. The cemetery was dedicated in 1868 by Arthur I. Boreman, the first Governor of West Virginia. Boreman was key in the two-year campaign for a cemetery in the state.
The first interments were held in the lower two terraces: 1,252 Union soldiers, 613 of which were unknown, were buried. Remains from temporary graves in Clarksburg, Grant County, Fayette County, Kanawha County, Marion County, Rich Mountain battle site, and Wheeling, as well as several Union dead from Kentucky were relocated to the National Cemetery. Additionally, some Confederate soldiers were buried.
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